Aircraft adjustable lift-propeller cradle



Sept. 23, 1952 E. v. SANDERS 2,611,554

AIRCRAFT ADJUSTABLE LIFT-PRQPELLER CRADLE Filed May 16, 1950 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR. [ar/Kdkznd'era ATTCI RN EYS Patented Sept. 23,1952 1f'EarI'YLSandersI.Pawneellll. .a'npplloatiofi'iltiayfilfi, 1950,Serial No. 162,291

; 3'JClaims.

5. l Thisliinventionzreiatesetot' aircraftiofatheytyp :2 .havingaboth;horizontallyrandzvertically. disposed "propellers;. andinaparti'cularithisinventionrelates :sto:controlzmeanseforradjustingzthemosition .of a

::cradle onlwhich a horizontalzpropeller is-mounted s'and lalsos'zmeana.fomadj-ustingr the'apositiorr lot a irudderiatatheiendzofirthexfuselage.

1: The 2 purpose: sot.- :this: invention; is to rprovide c; meansrwherebya:;-pilot lmayereadilyufadjust .the 1.. position: of a:horizontallnidisposedspropeller exa-stendedrgupwardlyizabove theuselage::1of.:an-.:air ll'ship.

r I theiusualz'type oiiaircraf-tiofithe helioopter :;:type itiszcustomaryctoaaidiustthe positionfof the 1: .propelierr" TOIJ}.bladetjethereof abut the mounting 1 xmeans .Eofa ipropelier on;aircraft is critical 'be- 1 cause the: 'propelleni-isasubj ectedato venormous strains and stresses and where itris. desirable to maintaincomparatively light weight structure it is difiicult to readily adjustthe position of a1.

horizontally disposed propeller. With this thought in mind thisinvention contemplates providing a substantially semi-sphericalicradlecarried by and extended upwardly from the fuselage of an airship wherebyaprop'eller journaled on. the cradle is readilyadjustable.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to irprovide-means formounting the horizontallyzdiswposed propeller on an ainshi.wherebyatheeposi- 1 tln:0f--:the propeller may -readily beadj-usted.

from the cockpit of the air ship without danger of the mountingelements-permitting the propeller.;to-separatefrom theair ship.

Another object of the invention is torprovid-e an adjustable mountingfor a horizontally disposed propeller on an air plane that may beincorporated in toy air planes and also in air planes for carrying apilot.

A further object of the invention is to provide mounting means for ahorizontally disposed propeller on aircraft whereby the position of thepropeller is readily adjustable, which is of a simple and economicalconstruction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the inventionembodies an air ship having a propeller positioned in a vertical planeat the forward end thereof and another propeller positioned in ahorizontal plane on the upper side of a disc carried by right angularlypositioned semi-circular arms with the horizontally positioned propellerdriven by a telescoping shaft with universal joints therein from a motorin the air ship and with the position of the propeller readily adjustedby cables extended to a drum in the air ship.

Other creatures and advantagesof ther'inven- 1 tion' will.:appeariromrthe'tfollowing description taken" inzrconnection with: the drawingswherein Figure his a .plan view oi?- therair. ship. Figure 2 is asideelevationalview-Iof the air ship. showing thenipper horizontally:disposed'pro- .peller and mounting disc thereof Pin azhorizontalposition.

Figure 3; is a similanviewdooking toward the 10.11forward endr'of theair shipyand showing a' front elevationthere'of.

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal-:r-section through the air ship.

; :Figure 5. is azcrosssect'romrthrolighithetcockpit 15.2 iof the airship ataken Ton-"line =5+isof Figure 4'.

Referring 'anow 1.10- theudrawings 2- wherein: dike :reference"characters? .denote .corresponding: parts 4 the improved airishipt-ofithis invention includes a :fuselage =01 body cl 0.;awerticallyidisposedcpro- 2o vpeller :I l- 1011111311861 .1011thewforwardr endL-ofithe .-f-uselage. a r-horizontally. ieisposed'fpropeller l2 a -journaledon a disc! 3, amotor==l 4, =drums -l 5-. and--l 6- by: which the position: -.of the propeller g I 2 is adjusted, andarudder I I. g Thefuselageilo is mounted on wheelsla-and- :49 'at'thefor-wardendjby a-.carriage .20 and azrear wzheelll is journaledinthe.outer.end.-ot 'aastrut 2 T. .The :zpropeller H 1 is-jounnaledinaabearing-q2 3. in

theafonward end .of ..the..fuselage by; a shaft -24 Wandv the propelleris rotated by a'chaimor belt 25 that isposltio-ned on a-sprocket:26.- onthe shaft 24 and also on a sprocket 21 on the shattiof-l-the i-imotorI4.

The propeller I2 is journaled in a bearing 28 in the disc l3 by a shaft29 and the shaft is connected through a universal joint 30 to atelescoping shaft 3I, the lower end or which is connected by a universaljoint 32 to a shaft 33 that is driven by a shaft 34 through beveledgears 35 and 36 from a difierential housing 31 which is connected to themotor l4 through a shaft 38.

The disc I3 is carried by longitudinally positioned semi-circular arms39 the ends of which are attached to the disc by hinges 40 andtransversely positioned semi-circular arms 4| the ends of which areattached to the disc by hinges 42. The section of the arm 39 at one sideis mounted between rollers 43 and 44, the section of the arm 39 on theopposite side between rollers 45 and 46, the section of the arm 4! onone side between rollers 41 and 48 and the section of the arm 4! on theopposite side between rollers 49 and 50.

The position of the horizontally disposed propeller I2 is controlled bycables with cables 51 3 and 52 extended to opposite ends of the drum l6and the cables 53 and 54 extended to the opposite ends of the drum l5.With the cables mounted in this manner one cable is paying out as theother is being wound on the drum.

The cable is attached to the section of the arm 39 at one side by aclamp 55, the cable 52 to the section of the arm '39 at the oppositeside by a clamp 56, the cable 53 to the section of the arm M at one sideby a clamp 5'! and the cable 54 to the section of the arm M at theopposite side by a clamp 58. The cable 5| extends over pulleys 59, 60and GI to the drum l6 and the cable 52, over pulleys G2, 63 and 64 tothe opposite end of the drum It. The cables 53 and 54 are trained oversimilar pulleys to the opposite ends of the drum l5.

The drums l5 and 16 are provided with hand wheels 65 and 66 whereby theposition of the horizontally disposed propeller may readily becontrolled from the cockpit of the air ship.

The position of the rudder H is controlled by cables 6! and 68 from astick 69 with the cables extending over pairs of pulleys H3 and H.

By this means an aviator has absolute control over the position of ahorizontally disposed propeller carried above the aircraft and thepropeller may or may not be used as may be desired.

It will be understood that modifications may be made in the design andarrangement of the parts without departng from the spirit of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an airplane, thecombination which comprises a fuselage mounted onwheels, a propeller positioned in a vertical plane at the forward end ofthe fuselage and mounted to rotate on a horizontal axis, a discpositioned above the fuselage, longitudinally and transversely disposedsemicircular arms extended downwardly from the disc, said, arms beingcrossed at a .point spaced from the disc and positioned above thefuselage, rollers journaled on the fuselage and positioned to engageopposite surfaces of the arms to permit swinging of the disc from apoint adjacent to the fuselage, means extended from the arms through theupper surface of the fuselage for adjusting the position of the disc, apropeller positioned in a horizontal plane and mounted to rotate on avertical axis positioned above and journaled in said disc, and meansrotating the propeller positioned above the disc from the interior ofthe fuselage.

2. In a toy airplane, the combination of which 4 comprises a fuselagemounted on wheels, a propeller positioned in a vertical plane and havinga horizontal axis of rotation journaled in the forward end of thefuselage, a disc positioned above the fuselage, crossed substantiallysemi-circular arms positioned in longitudinal and transverse planes inrelation to the fuselage and extended downwardly from the said disc,rollers journaled on the upper surface of the fuselage through which thearms extend, cables extended from the arms through the fuselage, apropeller journaled on the disc, positioned on a horizontal plane andhaving a vertical axis of rotation, and means rotating the propellermounted on the disc from the interior of the fuselage.

3.'In a toy airplane, the combination which comprises an elongatedhorizontally disposed fuselage, wheels mounted on arms extendeddownwardly from the fuselage, a propeller positioned to rotate in avertical plane and having a horizontal axis of rotation journaled in theforward end of the fuselage, an upwardly bowed disc positioned in ahorizontal plane and spaced above the fuselage, crossed substantiallysemi-circular arms extended downwardly from the disc and spaced abovethe fuselage, longitudinally and transversely positioned rollersjournaled on the fuselage and positioned to receive the said arms, apropeller positioned to rotate in a horizontal plane and mounted torotate about a vertical axis positioned above the disc, a shaft havinuniversal joints therein extended from the propeller positioned abovethe disc to the interior of the fuselage, cables extended from the armsextended from the disc into the fuselage, and means in the fuselage forcontrolling the cables and rotating the shaft extended to the propellerpositioned above the disc.

EARL V. SANDERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,414,241 Wells Apr. 25, 19221,903,440 Cambridge Apr. 11, 1933 2,054,610 Volpicelli Sept. 15, 19362,380,580 Cierva July 31, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date362,683= France Apr. 11, 1906

